Baby birds cuddle together

Make these adorable birds and their nests using craft Poms, plastic Easter eggs and brown paper bags.

Spring is the time of year when birds are returning to their northern stomping grounds, building their nests, and settling down to lay their eggs. In honor of bird migration and new beginnings offered by springtime, I’m posting this fun craft that entails making a bird’s nest out of a brown paper bag, which then becomes the home of a new baby bird that kids will make out of craft Poms and plastic Easter eggs.

I make this craft with students when I visit schools to read my children’s book,  Mallory the Forgetful Duck. The picture to the right shows a baby Mallard, but I bring all colors of Poms and eggs so that every child’s baby bird has its own “personality”.

Baby Mallard

The kids get a kick out of making their own “pets”. They give their new baby birds a name and then they assure me that they won’t forget about their baby birds, like Mallory does in the story. Actually, Mallory only loses her nest in the story (not the baby birds) and turns out to be a very good mommy bird (Spoiler Alert:)

Supplies you will need:

1 Brown paper bag

1 Craft Pom, any color, size 1 ½ inch

1 Plastic Easter egg, any color

2 Wiggle eyes, any color

Glue

Scissors

Directions:

Cut the brown paper bag in half. Set aside the top portion to use later. Roll down the sides of the bottom portion so that the egg will nestle in the bottom of the bag with the sides folded down around it.

Glue wiggle eyes to the Pom. Then grab the top portion of the brown bag and cut small triangles for the bird’s wings and beak. Glue them carefully to the Pom in the appropriate places. Then place the finished Pom (baby bird) inside the plastic Easter egg, and put the egg on its new nest. You can glue the egg to the nest if desired. But, I have found that kids like to pick it up and nestle the egg in their hands.

I hope your children enjoy this baby bird craft and delight in the spirit of new life and new beginnings that it brings.

See our baby birds!

Elaine Ann Allen

http://elaineannallen.com

Are you looking for some ideas to add color and flavor to your St. Patrick's Day celebration? Check out these tried and true recipes and craft ideas.

http://strollersavvy.com/2015/03/17-great-ideas-to-celebrate-st-patricks...

Hey y’all! Today I’ll be sharing how I made this adorable chevron bow for my embroidery hoop Easter wreath.

I showed y’all how I make my bows here, but I love this ribbon and we had a lot of snow here in VA this weekend, so I figured why not do another bow tutorial post?

Just a little FYI: I make bows a weird way. There is no tying of anything, just pipe cleaners and a crap ton of hot glue.

Get your hot glue guns ready, ladies, let’s get started!

What you’ll need: ribbon, hot glue gun and sticks, pipe cleaners and fabric scissors. (My hot glue gun is a little dirty, don’t judge me.)

2. Cut two pieces of ribbon the same length.

3. Fold each side in half.

4. Pinch each end of the ribbon and attach them together using the pipe cleaner.

5. Cut a small piece of ribbon: enough to go around the center of your bow to cover up the pipe cleaner. Hot glue that piece to the bow.

6. Cut two pieces of ribbon to make your tails and hot glue each tail to the ribbon.

I hope this helps all my fellow bow makers. If you have any questions, please comment below!

Product List

- Ribbon: Michael’s

- Burlap ribbon: Hobby Lobby

- Pipe cleaners: Michael’s

- Hot glue gun and glue sticks

- Fabric scissors

Every year for my Lumberjack’s birthday, I like to throw at least one handmade gift into the mix.

I’ve been experimenting with concrete ad nauseam over the past month: different consistencies, additives, molds, textures, dyes, etc., and after a significant number of practice runs, I decided to make him some leather-bottom concrete coasters.

The part I love most about this project is that no two coasters are alike! You never really know what the final design will look like until the block is pulled from the mold.

The exact coasters I made require the following supplies:

• 1 bag of fast-setting Quikrete Concrete
• 4 square molds
• 1 roll Saran Wrap
• 1 paint stir stick
• 1 medium-sized plastic mixing container
• 1 scrap piece of leather
• 1 tube of epoxy

Assembly process:

1. Line each square mold with a section of Saran Wrap.
2. Measure approximately 4 cups of Quikrete into the plastic mixing container and slowly add water until a pourable consistency is reached; stir until no lumps remain.
3. Pour about 1 cup of concrete into each mold and gently tap the to release any air bubbles.
4. Allow the concrete to cure overnight.
5. Once dry, use the Saran Wrap to pull the concrete free from the mold. Carefully unwrap the coaster and smooth away any rough edges or loose pieces.
6. Using the size of the coasters as a guide, cut four squares out of thick natural leather.
7. Apply the epoxy to the leather pad and secure it to the underside of the coaster. Press firmly to secure in place and allow to cure overnight.

Serve immediately … they go quite well with beer!

Sharing a little global LOVE this morning : )

As those of you who follow my blog may know, we are deep into the planning stages of our daughter’s wedding that is happening this August. What you may not know is that now we have TWO weddings in the making, as our son proposed to his lovely fiancé over the weekend as well!!  For our daughter’s celebration (#1 on the calendar), we’ve started having  monthly “craft days” to start chipping away at all of the DIY designs and decorations we are hoping to have displayed at this very international wedding. But of course, before we could begin crafting this past Sunday, we popped some bubbly (and shared some fries : ) to celebrate both of our lovely brides-to-be!

The project of the day was painted globes featuring the cities and countries of some very special places around the world that are near and dear to our daughter’s and her fiancé’s hearts.

Coach has been collecting globes for the past few months and we’ve been painting the bases and handles teal blue, one of the chosen colors in the wedding palette. So even though they are all a little different in shape and size, the base colors tie them all together.

The process of painting the globes is fairly simple, but tedious. First, we chose these cutout letters

I got from Michaels as the font pattern and traced them onto contact paper,

one city at a time. Then they were carefully cut out (this was, thankfully, not my job!) with little scissors and an exacto knife. We decided each globe would have a slightly different letter placement depending on the colors of the globe itself. You have to make sure that the unpainted lettered areas show through once you paint the globe, so you want to choose the darker areas of the globe, like the land masses vs. the oceans.

Once the placement was determined, the letters were peeled off the contact paper backing and placed on the globe, rubbing the edges firmly to ensure proper adherence so the paint wouldn’t bleed under.  (I really couldn’t take an accurate photo of this, as the contact paper is clear…) I made a concoction of Americana Paints, clear wax and soft finish varnish because I wanted it to be opaque and dark enough to contrast with the lettered areas.

Once the letters were in place, we simply used small brushes and started adding light coats of the white paint/glaze, allowing to dry until we were happy with the depth of color and contrast. Once slightly dried, we peeled off the letters using a small Exacto knife and tweezers. Voilà! Aspen!

The very first craft day, we were able to create this one LOVE globe while sorting out all of the exact craft details.

This past Sunday, we busted out 8, even while shipping champagne and discussing all of the wedding(s) planning. We have more to do, but we are at a standstill because we didn’t run out ofcountries, we’ve run out of globes! So if anyone has a globe they are willing to donate to the cause, let me know! Have a world class Wednesday everyone! Susan

I think it's safe to say that most of us love Pottery Barn. However, for many of us Pottery Barn is a bit too pricey. So, when I saw their live ivy topiary bunnies at $79 and twig bunnies for $179 (very large bunnies), I knew I there had to be a less expensive alternative. 

My less expensive version is a cross between the two Pottery Barn bunnies with a much lower price tag. The only downside is that this is a VERY messy craft*. You will be covered in moss bits and will need to break out your vacuum cleaner or broom after this project is done.

*If you are highly sensitive to dust or have respiratory issues, you may want to use a mask for this project.

Moss Covered Easter Bunny Tutorial

Supplies:

Make sure to use craft store coupons to save the most money on this project.

• Roll of moss mat
• paper mache bunnies
• glue gun & 4-5 glue sticks
• scissors
• ribbon
• fray check (optional)

 Directions:

Gather your supplies. Unwrap the roll of moss mat and remove any paper backing that remains on the back.

Cut a strip of moss that is large enough to cover the back of the bunny from the neck to the bottom of the bum. I cut my sheet about 6.5 in. x 18 in.  

Glue* down the moss in sections. I started from the top of the back and worked my way down the sides and back.

*Don't use too much glue or it will seep through the moss. Use just enough to hold the moss mat down. If glue does start to seep through, use the moss bits that have fallen off to cover any glue that has seeped through.

When you get to the legs or any angles, cut a slit in the moss. Don't worry if you end up with odd shaped moss areas as this can easily be covered. The main thing is to be able to wrap the moss around the bunny and glue it down. 

Here are more pictures of how I covered the back of the bunny. Make cuts in the moss mat where you want to fold down and wrap around your form. Again, don't worry about odd seams as the seams will not show once the moss mat is glued into place.

Oh, and you see those tiny bits of moss that have fallen off? These are the bits you want to use to cover any glue that may have seeped through. Just grab a pinch and smash it down into areas where you feel glue coming through the moss mat. Also, don't throw out any moss mat scraps because you will need these to cover other areas on your form. 

To cover the neck and front legs, I used a long 1.5 inch piece of moss mat. Again, cut the mat in areas that are rounded and curved to allow the mat to fit. I also used scrap pieces of moss mat to cover the odd shaped areas behind the neck. 

Continue to cut pieces of moss to fit around the face and ears of the bunny. Glue these pieces down.  Once the majority of the bunny is covered, there will be small areas that will need to be patched with the scrap pieces of moss mat. Cut pieces to fit into these areas and glue down.  Cut ribbon and tie around the neck of the bunny. Optional - Apply fray check to the cut end of the ribbon to prevent fraying. Now dust yourself off and enjoy your new moss covered bunny!

My new favorite craft and DIY blog, Tater Tots & Jello, featured this super-cute idea (from the craft queen "A Pumpkin and a Princess") for decorating Easter eggs with glittery polka dots and I had to give it a whirl ... but with my own spin!

I decided to use my new favorite craft supplies, my Martha Stewart Fine-Tip Glue Pen and Martha Stewart Iridescent Glitter and get to work!

What You'll Need

1. Hard-boiled eggs (obviously). If you need cooking instructions, click here
2. Martha Stewart fine-tip glue pen, $2.99 store.scrapbook.com
3. An old makeup brush
4. Martha Stewart glitter, $19.99 for a 12-piece set store.scrapbook.com

Holding the egg vertically between your index finger and thumb, make glue dots all over with the glue pen.

Continuing to hold the egg between your thumb and index finger, shake the glitter tube all over the egg covering the glue dots completely.

Blow off all the excess glitter and let the dots dry for just about a minute. Then use the makeup brush to dust off any extra sprinkles of glitter for a polished look!

And that's it!

The glue pen is also fantastic for writing pretty script on the eggs too, and I finished off my Easter basket with some solid-colored traditional ones, as well.

So, do you guys get all into Easter egg decorating?

*originally posted on my personal/lifestyle blog, http://www.thejackchronicles.com/

Are you up for a cute and easy paper craft project?

I used this easy-to-make book page bunting to decorate a little reading nook I created in my daughter’s nursery, but it could easily be used to pretty up other areas around the home. A project like this is a versatile way to add a little whimsy to your home décor.

I'm not sure why I was inspired by Peter Pan for the nursery. The adorable quotes? The chance to use vintage clocks? It captured me one day and I couldn't shake the idea. There is something so whimsical and sweet about the story. Hold on to innocence for as long as possible... and while you're at it, never stop believing. I couldn't think of a better message to surround my baby girl with.

There are so many images that come to mind when you think of the timeless story, but I didn't want to fill the walls up with too much visual clutter. This easy bunting strand allowed me to incorporate some of the story's silhouettes in a quiet and charming way.

I started by printing the images onto the bookpages I had chosen. This was as simple as resizing the paper output in Microsoft word and adjusting the image to fit.

I trimmed the bottom of the page, and added some string...

...and kept going, spacing them out as I went.

A couple of thumbtacks and we had beautiful and simple wall decor.

For a more detailed tutorial and many more projects and ideas, visit my blog Lovely Weeds!

I've been thinking a lot lately about Easter egg ideas for kids. I included a bunch in my spring crafts eBook, both new ideas as well as some of our older faves, but there are others floating around in my head that didn't make it into the book. This is one of those.

Drawing in frames.

I have a bit of a thing for frames. You may remember the DIY frame wallpaper we did last year. Or the various creative drawing prompts we've done with frames.

Frames provide a good balance of open-ended inspiration within a defined space. They sometimes seem to inspire kids more than just a plain piece of paper. Or, in this case, an egg.

The materials & set-up for this Easter egg idea:

• White eggs, hard-boiled
• A new set of '80s glam Sharpie markers -- an impulse purchase inspired by Rachelle from Tinkerlab (any permanent marker would work, of course)
• Cheap plastic place mats to protect the table (from Ikea)
• Silicone ice cube molds (an impromptu idea for holding the eggs in place -- you could also use egg cartons or muffin tins)
• Individual cups to keep eggs from rolling around as the child draws
• Kool-Aid + white vinegar for dyeing the eggs (or use food coloring or any commercial kit)
• Tongs

To begin with, I drew a variety of frames on hard-boiled eggs using a black sharpie. I did this ahead of time, in order to have everything set up as an after school activity.

Maia, Stella, and Daphne all drew pictures inside of the frames using the Sharpies.

Here's a bunny drawing.

And a spring scene with a bird, flowers, and a nest with eggs in a tree branch (by Stella).

Besides drawing within the egg frames, the girls also colored in some of the frames.

All in all, the results were quite different from the many times I have set out plain white eggs (no frames) and markers or crayons.

The next day, we dyed the eggs around the frames with a Kool-Aid dye. Maia poured the powder into tea cups and bowls, then we added hot water and 2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar to each cup of powder (talk about a fruity smell!).

We used tongs to dip the eggs into the Kool-Aid dye to keep the dye around the frame rather than inside where the drawings were.

Luckily the dye was intense and worked quickly so we didn't have to hold the eggs in place for long.

We were quite pleased with how the eggs turned out!

Some of our new frame Easter eggs have joined the rest of our decorated eggs in a big wire fruit bowl on our dining table. We also nestled a few eggs in the makeshift yarn nest (loose yarn piled in a small basket) on our spring nature table.

How about you? Are you decorating and dyeing Easter eggs with your kids yet? What methods are you using?

Jean Van't Hul
The Artful Parent
ArtfulParent.com

Flower-shaped paper egg holders are very easy to make, very decorative and can be also used as a placeholder for Easter dinner.

How-to: Download the pdf you find here and then the possibilities are endless. Print it on colored cardboard or decorated paper (the one I used is of Tiger), and cut out the flowers. Or cut out the flower shapes on white cardboard and decorate it as you like (this can be a fun activity to do with kids!).

For the base, cut along the two lines carefully, cross them and attach with tape inside and out. Cute, isn't it?

Gallery walls are tricky business, especially for detailed oriented, type-A sort of people--not that I know any of those sort of people, cough, cough. At our previous house my first battle with the gallery wall involved hanging a group of empty picture frames going up the stairs, as a sort of artistic statement. I then decided to replace the empty frames with pictures. From there I switched out some of the older cheap frames, for more high quality frames. However, this meant the spacing was off when I replaced a few of the frames with different sizes. It was a domino affect--I then had to rearrange the whole thing. My husband would find me rearranging the pictures or re-hanging them in the wee hours of the night. It worried him that I just couldn't leave them alone! (see below the first stage of the gallery wall madness).

Round two came when we moved into our current house and I arranged the same frames over our couch in the living room. I arranged the frames first on the carpet all together, eye-balled a good spot on the wall, and then marked the nail holes with a pencil, using a tape measurer. However this was done with two people--one person to hold the frame up on the wall and the other person to eye-ball a good spot. Miraculously the gallery wall seemed to come together on our first attempt.

This luck soon ran out though. Inspired by our gallery wall, my mother-in-law enlisted me to help her hang a group of photographs in black picture frames. We used the same technique--laying out a variety  of picture frames on the carpet, and rearranging them to our liking before eye-balling them up on the wall, marking, and hanging them. Alas, what looked good on the carpet didn't seem to transfer to the wall. Chagrined I later called my husband to go over and fix it, which he did, re-hanging a few pictures and replacing others with different frames.

So it was with much trepidation I approached the gallery wall in our second bedroom. A blank canvas can be somewhat overwhelming, and I desperately wanted to avoid peppering the wall with gratuitous nail holes this time.

I decided to take on a different strategy. I traced the outline of picture frames onto some extra supermarket ads to make a hanging template. I also marked the nail holes on the template, so all I had to do was tape the template to the wall, nail through the paper and pull away the paper to hang the pictures. It worked relatively well, although I did end up changing out the top/middle picture frame for a smaller version, after I had already hung the gallery. It's a work in progress. Either that or I used up all my gallery wall luck already.

The items on the gallery wall include a pallet arrow that the husband made. He honestly just looked at a picture and made it, so I don't really have a tutorial. If you need one, I'd recommend the one here at Love Grows Wild.

The second item we made was the swiss cross sign which you can read about here. The other items include photographs from Hawaii, and Oregon, as well as a framed notecard with a quote from Louisa May Alcott, which reads: "I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship." Which gives me pause--"Is she speaking to me about persevering with hanging my gallery wall?"

The crocheted animal head, a fox, is from a local craft shop, Wholly Craft. The artist, Taylor Hart who makes them also has an etsy shop.  She has other cute animal heads, including a platypus which I found unexpected and charming. I originally planned on including a hanging sign I bought from Three Potato Four in the gallery wall, but then thought the better of it, because it seemed to overwhelm the space. I ended up with just hanging it over the bed. I may change my mind and reincorporate it back into the gallery wall like I originally planned. What do you think? (see below for the original plan).

The gallery wall is "done" for now, which means I might change it up again when I feel like it, or when my husband isn't looking.

Anne with an E

My daughter came to me on Saturday morning with a picture of a bird feeder that she wanted to make, but unfortunately I didn't have all the specific materials, so this is what we came up with instead. I'm happy to finally have put these tea cups to good use since I've had them since last spring! The finished product is adorable and took less than 5 minutes to make, so two thumbs up!  Here we go!

You'll need these plastic tea cups from Target, which are sold in the party aisle. 

When the glue is completely cool, tie a ribbon to the handle, hang on the tree, and fill with bird seed. 

That's it! They look so cute hanging in the tree and are a great way to welcome spring!

   Bloglovin'  /  Instagram  /  Facebook  /   Twitter  /  Pinterest  /  Etsy

Do you ever get upset when something doesn't turn out exactly how you envisioned?  I learned some valuable lessons when doing a simple art project with my son.

http://strollersavvy.com/2015/03/why-children-should-color-outside-the-l...

15 Dollar Store Easter & Everyday Crafts

These are so great! And they don’t cost much!

I hope this is helpful for many of you that do crafts!

These crafts are just so cute and I think kids will really have fun making them! Crafting in the spring is a great in-house activity. It rains so much in the spring. I hope your family enjoys these!

GO HERE PLEASE

Sure, there is a little candy, but there is also a new swimsuit, beach towel, pool floaty, bubbles, chalk and more. Being someone who always likes to give a little something handmade and knowing I wasn’t going to make a towel or pool floaty, chalk seemed like the logical choice.

A wise friend with older children once told me that each spring she fills her Easter baskets with outdoor summer fun toys.

Sure, there is a little candy, but there is also a new swimsuit, beach towel, pool floaty, bubbles, chalk and more. Being someone who always likes to give a little something handmade and knowing I wasn’t going to make a towel or pool floaty, chalk seemed like the logical choice.

Plus, my kids didn’t believe me that we could make our own chalk, so I needed to prove them wrong and sing nana-nana-boo-boo. Actually Easter-egg-shaped chalk was surprisingly easy to make. I feel inspired to make it into all kinds of shapes now.

SUPPLIES

• Plaster of Paris
• Kids' paint
• Water
• Silicone baking mold of an egg
• Disposable cups

I had a six-egg mold, so first I added plaster of Paris to six disposable cups.

Next I squirted kids' paint, little bits at a time, into each cup. We tried some glitter paint, but sadly our chalk did not glitter. You want the plaster to be thick and smooth, but not super runny. You may have to add extra water, plaster and paint accordingly.

Stir like a crazy person. Your plaster will start to set up pretty quickly, so I learned the hard way not to put paint in all six cups at once.

Make one cup of chalk at a time or the last cup will be starting to go in to rigor mortis by the time you get to it.

Pour your plaster into the molds. At this point, I realized some of my eggs had enough plaster and some needed a bit more. Feel free to experiment and make swirly chalk.

Once your molds are full, them set aside on a flat surface to dry. Mine took about 24 hours.

Is it easier to buy ready-made chalk? Of course it is.

Is it better to pat yourself on the back and brag to your other mommy friends that you made your own? Duh. Also, and most importantly, my kids had fun helping me and were pretty amazed at their own awesomeness after making chalk. Next stop, popsicle chalk!

As requested here are my 10 favourite free online knit and crochet dishcloth patterns- Click here